John's Next Step

Kids enjoying the sea off Bubble Beach, Dominica After talking about the atmosphere I briefly turn to the oceans and seas. The atmosphere would have a lot more CO2 and be a lot hotter if the deep water covering 70% of the planet hadn’t absorbed huge amounts of both. We are not funding enough research into the impacts on global warming. And because ocean research is expensive scientists don’t know as much as they would like. But we know enough to understand the broad impacts. I will mention a few aspects relevant to those on the front lines – islands and coastal communities. Sea level rise Imperceptible to me, but Grand Anse is retreating with the rising sea and will eventually be lost Sea levels are rising with the melting of our land based ice fields. Greenland and Antarctica are the two major ones. There is enough ice on Greenland to raise sea level by 20 feet and 10 times that amount around the south pole. Oceans are rising because of the meltwater and because...

Photo by Josh Barwick on Unsplash My last post was an overview of global warming suitable for anyone. This post covers a few examples of things that can make the situation worse. I would probably not teach these to primary students and I don’t talk about these to everyone. This information doesn’t change the basic understanding of the situation and that is all some people need, or can handle, at the moment. Those wanting to prepare for future weather events and are interested in working on ways to avoid the worse need to dig deeper. This post is not intended to cover all scenarios or even all categories of scenarios, but to give a hint that there is more information out there. And, to be blunt: as bad as you think it is, it is likely worse, and might be far worse for several reasons. The earth is resilient and it takes time to start to break We’ve been pumping CO2 into the atmosphere for over a hundred years and most of us haven’t paid much of a price until recently. ...

I have been interested in climate change since junior high in the 1970s when I had a fossilized part of a giant fern like plant. I needed two hands to wrap all the way around it. At the time I took the simple view that when fossil fuels were plants and animals the climate was significantly different (giant ferns, dinosaurs, no polar ice caps) and then the carbon was buried and over time the climate changed. I figured that if we dug up enough of that carbon and released it back into the atmosphere then we should have about the same climate as the last time the earth had dinosaurs and those ginormous ferns. Not exactly like the one that I had This wasn’t precisely correct, but close enough. The basic understanding of the problem has not changed much since it was theorized in the late 1800’s by a Swedish scientist. Since 1960 Dr. Keeling and countless others have refined and improved our understanding of the topic and related issues. There was scientific debate in the past...

Dominica Peace Corps sign after hurricane Maria This will be the first of several posts related to climate change and the impact on Peace Corps and their host countries. Peace Corps and Peace Corps volunteers have chosen to work with developing countries. Many of these counties have recently been harmed by weather events significantly influenced by global warming. Riding out one of the fastest growing Atlantic hurricanes that ran directly over Dominica as a category 5 was a dramatic example. How can Dominica survive as a viable nation if increased storms like Erica and Maria become more common? Some of the damage to the capital after the hurricane Cleanup operations included all ages My house suffered after Maria But not as much as my school I also saw changes to the critical rainfall in the Upper West of Ghana that impacted building projects in the dry season and yields of life giving crops in the rainy season. These people are strong, smart, and adaptive...

My wife and I worked with Red Cross disaster services and with St. Vincent de Paul to help people around Missouri when the kids were in school. We did this because we, she more than I, knew that helping others is vital for a full life. You know this if you are religious and have taken to heart your scriptures, whatever your tradition. You know this if you are a good person and have rolled up your sleeves to volunteer. It is not always easy, commonly difficult, and sometimes frustrating – and yet we generally keep doing it as long as we are able. The American Red Cross pulled out of my St. Charles county Missouri a few years ago leaving many volunteers and the people they served out on a limb as far a local disasters are concerned. I don’t want to talk bad about the Red Cross but in any organization the bureaucracy and people at the top can loose focus on the work, the mission and become more concerned about personal/organizational safety and financial security. Medical Go...